View: Dan Turner shift to centre-back a revelation for Aston Villa Women this season
After spending the last 15 years of her career at Everton before her summer switch to Aston Villa, many fans wouldn’t have blamed Dan Turner for taking a bit of time to adjust to proceedings under Carla Ward.
After receiving interest from several clubs before the start of the season, Turner’s decision to join the likes of Rachel Daly and Kenza Dali through the gates at Bodymoor Heath is currently paying off.
The former Toffees captain has not just taken the armband for large portions of the season but also excelled at centre-back – a position she has never previously played in her career.
Firstly due to injury issues, but then to accommodate the in-form Maz Pacheco into the side, Turner has had to learn a new trade this term in the heart of the Villa defence, and she certainly hasn’t taken a step back since.
Turner has taken to the new position like a duck to water, and has, as such, started every WSL game since moving to the West Midlands in the summer.
In an interview with BBC Sport, the 31-year-old opened up on her change in positions this season, saying: “It was actually a real positive for me.
“Carla showed a lot of faith in me. It’s a role that I’m really enjoying and I think it suits me as a player. Everyone keeps saying I missed a trick moving so late in my career to centre-back – but everything happens for a reason.
“It’s now my preferred position. It might add a couple of years on to my career as well which would be nice.”
Her performances this season may have come as an unexpected surprise to Ward, but Turner seems to be moving from strength to strength in recent weeks, and it seems her ceiling is still yet to be reached.
Alongside Rachel Corsie in the heart of defence, Villa have two extremely experienced players who can help push them up the Women’s Super League table. Combining their leadership traits alongside their prior WSL experience makes the pair a formidable partnership and one that could help Villa ascend into the upper echelons of the league.
Turner has now become a key cog in the works at Villa, and alongside partner in crime Corsie, Jordan Nobbs in midfield and Daly in attack could prove herself to be a prominent figure in what could be the club’s most successful season since being promoted back into the WSL.
In other Aston Villa news, the club are set to revive interest in an Athletic Bilbao player in the summer after a failed January swoop.